Thursday, January 03, 2008

Seems this is the season for determined kayakers down under to set records, or a least try to.

Just the other day, German kayaker Freya Hoffmeister became the first woman to circumnavigate New Zealand's South Island in a kayak. The 43-year-old took 70 days to complete her trip, which was expected to take three months.

The first man to complete the same task did so in 1978, but only two more people have managed it since. But hot on her heels are two other women hoping to share the glory. A Swedish woman started the trip a couple of weeks ago, and a Welsh woman is planning to begin in late February.

Also, a group of four paddlers have finished crossing the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, the first to do so without the help of sails. The waters are notoriously nasty, and a solo paddler recently died just off the coast of New Zealand's South Island trying to complete the crossing in the other direction.

There is a pair of kayakers also trying to make the trip from Australia to New Zealand after starting their crossing on November 13, 2007. Their original plan was to arrive in Auckland on Christmas Eve, but big waves and high winds have been working against them, and the pair are still trying to get through the last few hundred kilometres!

It all sounds like very hard work to me. Think I'll stick to paddling around in more sheltered waters, like Wellington Harbour!

Living Abroad in New Zealand

Maple Kiwi's Profile

Michelle Waitzman is the author of "Sex in a Tent: a wild couple's guide to getting naughty in nature"
Michelle is from Toronto, Canada, and spent seven wonderful years living in New Zealand and exploring the amazing wilderness there. She has now returned to Canada and its equally amazing (but more spread out) adventures.
She loves spending time in the great outdoors - hiking, backpacking (or 'tramping' as they call it in NZ), and sea kayaking.
Michelle also wrote "Moon Living Abroad in New Zealand", a guide for those who would like to follow in her footsteps and move to New Zealand.
Contact Michelle at loveinatent@hotmail.com